2010-11 record: 37-45

Head Coach: Frank Vogel

Key Departures: Josh McRoberts, T.J. Ford, Mike Dunleavy Jr.

Key Additions: David West, George Hill

Best case scenario: The Pacers build on their spirited 1st round performance against the Bulls, seamlessly integrate David West and George Hill into their frontcourt and backcourt, they run a lot of pick-and-pop with those two and ride the momentum Indy began to accumulate at the end of last season into at least one playoff series win.

Danny Granger reminds everyone why he was once thought of as one of the NBA’s best pure scorers and most underrated players.

More likely scenario: The Pacers do their best and win more games than they lose in the regular season, but end up not quite having enough talent or enough defensive chemistry to get past teams like the Celtics, the Heat, the Bulls, or even the Knicks or Magic in the first round, and lose a heartbreaking 1st-round series in 6 or 7 games. Then Larry Bird retires.

Prediction: 35-38 wins

As Boston Celtics general manager Danny Ainge aggressively pursues possible deals for Rajon Rondo(notes), the Indiana Pacers have emerged as an intriguing suitor for the point guard, league sources told Yahoo! Sports.

For the past few days, Pacers officials – and third-party surrogates – have been making calls and gathering information and insight into Rondo’s reputation as a teammate and leader, sources said.

The Pacers and Celtics have discussed the preliminary framework of a deal, but two sources said Indiana would need a third team to provide Boston with the talent it wants to do a deal. The Celtics are likely trying to gather the necessary pieces to make a bid for Ainge’s ultimate target: New Orleans point guard Chris Paul(notes), sources said.

Chris Paul might be the ultimate target for the Celtics in their trade talks.
(NBAE/Getty Images)

It was unclear if the Pacers had begun to reach out to broaden discussions, but there was an expectation they would do so.

The Celtics have been gauging Rondo’s trade value for more than a year, and have held discussions with teams about him across the past few trade deadlines and NBA drafts. There have long been divides within Boston’s front office, coaching staff and locker room about Rondo. He can be moody, difficult and stubborn, and several league sources were dubious if the Pacers’ young coach, Frank Vogel, would have the stature to deal with Rondo.

[ Related: Top 15 NBA free agents: Who tops the list? ]

Boston could be trying to gather players to make a more attractive bid for Paul, sources said. New Orleans has shown no interest in a deal that would include Rondo and any combination of Celtics teammates. Yet, New Orleans GM Dell Demps is determined to get maximum value for Paul, if it’s clear the point guard sees his future elsewhere. Demps has no desire to simply let Paul walk away as a free agent to New York.

Most teams in the league are engaging New Orleans about Paul, whose intentions are to get to the New York Knicks as a free agent in the summer of 2012. Paul does have some history in Oklahoma City, having played there with the Hornets in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, but the Thunder have resisted dialogue on a Paul-for-Russell Westbrook(notes) deal, sources said.

The Thunder are prepared to make Westbrook a substantial contract offer – probably a maximum deal – in the near future.

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By Travis Miller

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Jul 19, 2011 – Even though the NBA lockout has cast a pall over an otherwise exciting NBA season, the Indiana Pacers have released their 2011-12 schedule. Indiana has one nationally televised game this season, on December 2nd when they travel to Portland to face the Trailblazers. That game will be televised at 1pm on ESPN.

The Pacers the season with a pair of road games, starting Wednesday November 2nd at the Detroit Pistons. They play at the Oklahoma City Thunder two nights later before opening at home against the Boston Celtics on Saturday, November 5th. That game should bring quite a crowd, as the Celtics have Indianapolis native and Purdue All-American JaJuan Johnson. His teammate with the Boilermakers, E`Twaun Moore, was also selected by the Celtics in the second round of the NBA Draft.

Other games of note:

March 28th sees Shelvin Mack return with the Washington Wizards after leading the Butler Bulldogs to consecutive National Championship games.

December 18th will be the only visit of the Utah Jazz, with fellow Butler legend Gordon Hayward.

The Los Angeles Lakers and Kobe Bryant visit two nights after the Jazz.

The defending NBA Champions in the Dallas Mavericks visit on February 7th with Purdue legend Brian Cardinal

The Miami Heat will visit twice late in the season, on March 23rd and April 13th.

The regular home finale will be on April 16th against Washington.

The complete schedule can be found here.

Read More: Brian Cardinal (F – DAL), Kobe Bryant (G – LAL), E`Twaun Moore (G – Purdue), Shelvin Mack (G – Butler), Gordon Hayward (G – UTA), Indiana Pacers, Detroit Pistons, Washington Wizards, Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Oklahoma City Thunder, Utah Jazz, Los Angeles Lakers, Purdue Boilermakers, Butler Bulldogs

BOSTON (AP) — Shaquille O’Neal, who struggled to get on the court for the Boston Celtics because of leg injuries, said on Twitter on Wednesday that he is going to retire after a 19-year career in which he won four NBA titles and the 2000 league Most Valuable Player award.

O’Neal sent a tweet shortly before 2:45 p.m. saying, “im retiring.” It included a link to a 16-second video in which he says, “We did it; 19 years, baby. Thank you very much. That’s why I’m telling you first: I’m about to retire. Love you. Talk to you soon.”

An inveterate prankster who gave himself a new nickname – or several – in each of his six NBA cities, the 15-time All-Star did not notify his latest team of his plans. He played just 37 games this year, the first of a two-year deal at the veteran’s minimum salary, making just three brief appearances after Feb. 1.

“To my knowledge, he has not informed any of us that he’s retiring,” Celtics spokesman Jeff Twiss said.

If he goes, O’Neal retires fifth all-time with 28,596 points, 12th with 13,099 rebounds and second only to Artis Gilmore among players with more than 2,000 baskets with a .582 field goal percentage.

O’Neal’s contributions to basketball went far beyond his presence on the court.

One of the most charismatic players in NBA history, O’Neal was a franchise-saver when the Orlando Magic made him the No. 1 overall pick in the 1992 draft. He took them from the lottery to the playoffs in two years, and then led them to the NBA finals in his third year before they were swept by the Houston Rockets.

O’Neal, 39, signed with the Los Angeles Lakers in 1996 and had his greatest success there, winning three titles alongside Kobe Bryant and coach Phil Jackson. But amid tension between O’Neal and Bryant over credit for the team’s success, O’Neal was traded to the Miami Heat in the summer of 2004, fresh off a loss to the Detroit Pistons in the finals.

After 3 1/2 years in Miami, a tenure that included his fourth NBA championship, O’Neal became a veteran-for-hire, moving to Phoenix and then Cleveland and finally Boston. But he couldn’t deliver another title for Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire with the Suns, with LeBron James with the Cavaliers or with the Celtics’ Big Three of Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.

At each stop, he endeared himself to the fans and his new teammates with his effervescent smile and playful attitude, including the habit of adopting a new nickname that he felt embodied his role with his new team. In Phoenix he was the “Big Shaqtus”; in Boston, the “Big Shamroq.”

He also embraced social networking, amassing almost 4 million followers on his Twitter account, where fans could find out his next move or even the “random acts of Shaqness” – like sitting in Harvard Square, pretending to be a statue, or going out in drag on Halloween.

But O’Neal’s off-court persona couldn’t disguise the fact that he was getting old, and while he showed he could still play with younger opponents he couldn’t manage to stay on the court with them. He missed a week in November with a bruised right knee, a week in December with a calf injury and another in January with a sore right hip.

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INDIANAPOLIS — Danny Granger hasn’t changed his mind.

The Indiana Pacers’ leading scorer still believes his team matches up better against Chicago than the Boston Celtics in the playoffs because of the Bulls’ reliance on Derrick Rose. Nor does he care if that opinion gets tacked to a bulletin board in the Bulls’ locker room as they prepare for Saturday’s opening game at the United Center.

“It’s the honest truth,” Granger said following the Pacers’ practice at Conseco Fieldhouse on Thursday.

“In the playoffs, you don’t need no bulletin-board material. Especially a team like Chicago; they’re the No. 1 seed and have their eyes on a championship, so they should be ready to play regardless.”

Granger’s recent statement wasn’t intended as an insult to the Bulls, and certainly wasn’t a slight to Rose. The Pacers tossed enough verbal bouquets at the point guard on Thursday to leave a scent that could be picked up in Chicago. Team president Larry Bird went first.

Bird, who achieved legendary status after leading Boston to three NBA championships in the 1980s, said he probably would have voted for Rose as the league’s Most Valuable Player if he had a ballot, with Kobe Bryant and LeBron James close behind.

“Rose seems to have taken his game to another level in a short period of time,” Bird said. “I knew he was a very talented player, but I didn’t know he was going to be this good. He’s quick, he’s strong, he’s powerful and he’s starting to hit his jump shot, which makes him almost impossible to guard.”

Even if some of the Pacers believe containing Rose makes the top-seeded Bulls a more beatable team than the Celtics or another Eastern Conference contender, they readily acknowledge the difficulty of doing that. Pacers point guard Darren Collison gives up three inches and at least 30 pounds to Rose, so he’s not equipped to do the job alone.

“It’s more how we defend,” Collison said. “If we’re not tied in together and don’t trust each other, it doesn’t matter how much film we watch.”

The Pacers will try multiple defenders on Rose — 6-foot-6 defensive specialist Dahntay Jones will get a shot as well — but they’re hoping to make the task a group effort. They’ve devoted much of their recent practice time to defending the Bulls’ screening action for Rose, and plan to rotate and give help when he does penetrate.

All of which is more easily drawn up and discussed than actually done, Pacers coach Frank Vogel admitted.

“His speed and size are unparalleled,” said Vogel, who took over for the fired Jim O’Brien on Jan. 30. “He’s definitely the fastest guy in the NBA. He’s got Allen Iverson quickness, but he’s very strong. Chauncey Billups strong. That combination is a killer, so you try to make him beat you from the perimeter but he’s now established that he’s a great jump-shooter. It’s a pick-your-poison type of thing with him. He’s got it all.”

Mark Montieth is a freelance writer based in Indianapolis.